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Volleyball 2013Sunday, August 11, 2013

Volleyball 2013 1

2013 Johnson County

VOLLEYBALL

Alvarado — Burleson — Centennial

Cleburne — Godley — Grandview — Joshua

Keene — Rio Vista

A sneak peak into the upcoming volleyball season,

including schedules, photos and previews.A special supplement to the Cleburne Times-Review



Volleyball 2013 Sunday, August 11, 2013

Johnson County Volleyball 2013

is a publication of the

Cleburne Times-Review

Publisher Kay Helms

Managing Editor Dale Gosser

Design/Layout A.J. Crisp

Sports Editor A.J. Crisp

Contributing Photographers David Beans

Steven Hiser

Cierra Johnson

Advertising Kay Helms, Mgr.

Advertising executives Eric Faught

Tammy Kay

Lisa RussellGraphics/cover Ashley Garey

817-645-2441

Fax: 817-645-4020

108 S. Anglin St.

Cleburne, Texas

P.O. Box 1569

Cleburne, TX 76033

News Editor

[email protected]

Sports Editor

[email protected]

[email protected]

Onlinewww.cleburnetimesreview.com

While football is king inTexas, the volleyball scene in

Johnson County is one of themore competitive counties

in the area. And if the 2013volleyball season for JohnsonCounty comes close to match-ing last year, local fans are infor a real treat.

Six of the county’s nineteams made the postseason in2012: Alvarado, Burleson, Bur-leson Centennial, Cleburne,Grandview and Joshua. Andall six of those teams expecta return trip to the playos,while the other three teams —

Godley, Keene and Rio Vista — have high aspirations of returning to the playos.

Perhaps one of the more in-triguing storylines of 2012 wasthe District 8-4A race betweenBurleson, Cleburne and Joshua as all three teams battled forthe district crown before theLady Elks came out on top by one game over Joshua. All threeteams graduated key players,

but all three teams also returnseveral important pieces, whileCentennial is expected to beimproved as well.

e Alvarado Lady Indiansclinched a playo berth lastseason for the rst time in a decade, and with the majority of the team returning in 2013,a playo berth isn’t the goalanymore, it’s the expectation.

Godley, which had previ-ously made the playos forseveral seasons in a row, barely missed out on the postseasonlast year, and the Lady Cats aredetermined to get back there.Keene and Rio Vista, two

programs that have struggledin recent years, return plenty of experience and hope to grow during their nondistrict slate in

order to compete for a playo spot once district starts.Grandview graduated a

good portion of last year’ssquad, but the Lady Zebrasstill have their sights set on a playo run.

Burleson, Grandview, Joshua and Rio Vista all havenew head coaches this season,so it will be interesting to see if those teams look dierent onthe court under new leader-

ship.Not only are the teams in

the county top-notch, butlocal individuals continue toimpress.

Cleburne brings back Brianna Reband, the all-county and all-district blocker of theyear, and Cheyenne Lytle, lastyear’s newcomer of the year.Reband, in her senior season, isexpected to be one of the focal

points of the Lady Jackets’attack this season and is one of the best multi-skilled players inthe area. Lytle had a breakout

season as a sophomore last year,and she will shoulder moreresponsibility as a junior in2013.

Burleson returns the two-time all-county and all-districtMVP in Holly Milam, one of the best players in the region.e Lady Elks also return all-district setter Alana Hughes.

And there are even morequality players in the county,including Rio Vista’s Han-

nah Kamphaus, Joshua’s CaliePayne, Grandview’s Jade Ro-chelle and Keene’s Jenna Bulles

While Friday nights in thefall typically belong to the foot-ball eld, make sure and catchthese ladies in action every Tuesday night. Varsity vol-leyball matches on Friday alsobegin well before kicko on thegridiron, so show your supportat the end of the week, too.

A.J. Crisp

Sports editor

Johnson County volleyball among the best




By Tommy Brownaisd information officer

After reaching the playoffs for thefirst time in 10 years last season, Al-

varado Head Volleyball Coach Jill Barkeyis anxious to find out what her team of seven returners and nine seniors can doas an encore.

It took less than three days of practice

for her to realize how special the upcom-ing season can potentially be.

“Between the experience we had lastyear and the number of girls we haveback, they feel like this is their year —like they own it,” Barkey said. “It’s goingto be exciting to see what this group canaccomplish.”

One stark difference this year is thelevel at which the 2013 Lady Indians arebeginning. Reaching the playoffs is nolonger a goal, but an expectation.

“Because we lost so few girls, the ex-

pectations are a lot higher than they werea year ago,” Barkey said. “We want tobeat Glen Rose, play better against Ste-phenville and even take a game fromthem. Those are things that in the past,I’m not sure we could set as a realisticgoal.

“I don’t want to hear our girls talkingabout making the playoffs, that is a given.We’re either talking about first or secondin district and what we’re doing after wewin our first round playoff game. Expec-tations have changed.”

Despite the seven returners and nineseniors, there are a few question markssurrounding the Lady Indians. The big-gest is the fact that the players who didgraduate had a big part in clogging themiddle of the floor last year and theirheight will be hard to replace.

“We are going to be shorter, no doubt,”Barkey said. “Defensively we’ll have alot of the same kids, it’s just a matter of adjusting our blocking and defense whenthe other team is hitting at us.

“We’re adjusting our technique on

a lot of things and after just three days,some of the things they are doing we havenever taught before. It’s exciting to see.”

While the team doesn’t lack confi-dence, Barkey admitted there is still somegrowing that needs to be done in terms of how to beat top-tier teams.

“Our biggest problem, and this evenhappened in summer ball, is that evenwhen we’re beating a team we’re ‘not

supposed to beat’ we tend to play scared,”she said. “My No. 1 goal right now is toteach them not to do that. If we’re goingdown it isn’t going to be because we werescared, if we go down we’re going downswinging.”

Alvarado opens its season Tuesday atNorthside. The Lady Indians begin Dis-trict 7-3A play Oct. 1 against Stephen-ville.

Expectations sky high for Lady IndiansAfter 1st playoff berth in

10 years in 2012,

playoffs are now the

expectation in Alvarado

Tommy Brown/Special to the CTRKenzie Shelfer, left, and Chelsea Brackin go up high for the ball during practice for theLady Indians, who have high expectations heading into 2013.




By A.J. [email protected]

The Burleson Lady Elks areno strangers to deep play-

off runs after back-to-back ap-pearances in the Class 4A re-gional playoffs. But somethingnew to the Lady Elks this sea-son will be their head coach.

Coach Aubrey Short takesover for D’Anna Newton, butthe Lady Elks still maintainhigh aspirations.

In 2012, the Lady Elks ad-vanced to the regional semi-nals, where they fell to Dumasin ve sets. In 2011, Burle-son advanced to the regionalquarternals before falling toAledo. Short’s goal is to helptake Burleson at least one stepfurther in 2013.

“We have very high expec-tations,” Short said. “We’relooking at going deep into theplayoffs. I’m expecting us togo out and win the district, andthat’s always the expectation.”

While Cleburne and Joshua,the two teams who nishedright on Burleson’s heels inDistrict 8-4A last season, lostseveral key players from ayear ago, Burleson returns sev-eral playmakers, including lastyear’s district and county MVPHolly Milam.

Along with Milam, AlanaHughes and Mackenzie Hai-ley, among others, returns.Hughes was the district’s set-ter of the year and both Hughesand Hailey were all-county se-lections.

“I’m expecting them tobe the oor leaders and off-the-court leaders,” Short said.“They’re going to be the onesthat are taking charge of thegame.”

Short said she has coachedfew players of Milam’s ability,and said she expects Milam to

be a solid leader and player forthe Elks her senior season.

“I’ve had girls of similar tal-ent, but at different positions,”Short said. “She is denitely agreat athlete and a great volley-ball player. With her attitudeand intensity, she is top of theline.”

Short said the rst few daysof practice were going greatand she was pleased with the

work ethic the team has shownAs is the case with every

new coach, a period of learn-ing has to be endured. Short isstill learning her players andher players are still adaptingto Short, but she said therewon’t be too many differencesbetween what fans saw on thecourt last year compared towhat they should expect thisseason.

“There’s not going to be a

lot of changes because there’snot a whole lot you can changewith good athletes like this,”she said. “There’s not goingto be a whole lot of changes, just mostly some ne tuning insome areas.”

Short said she is an offen-sive-minded coach, but forBurleson to reach its goals thisseason, the Lady Elks will needto be just as solid defensively.

“Defense is a huge part of the game and that’s obviouslyimportant, but when you takecontrol of the game offen-sively, that’s important,” Shortsaid. “We’ll be a mix of bothoffensive and defensive mind-ed, but we’ll be highly offen-sive.”

There is no question abouthow much talent or experienceBurleson possesses, and Shortsaid with those things takencare of, chemistry is going tobe a key factor this season.

“I think that the team unityis going to be really impor-tant,” she said. “These girls arepushing each other and helpingeach other out. Our leaders aretaking charge and showing theyounger girls how it works.”

Burleson went 32-9 over-all and 13-1 in district play in2013. The Lady Elks open theseason Aug. 13 at Stephenville.Burleson’s rst district game isTuesday at Joshua.

Taking the next stepNew coach

hopes to getLady Elks

past regionals

David Beans/Special to the CTR

Burleson’s Holly Milam (10) is the two-time All-Johnson Countyand district MVP.




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By Zack Cunninghamspecial to the ctr

Regarding its girls’ athletic programs, Bur-leson Centennial has eased into the tran-

sition of playing at the Class 4A level, and thesame can be said of the Lady Spartans’ vol-leyball program.

After a playoff berth in the school’s rstvarsity season as a Class 3A squad in 2011,Centennial returned to the playoffs last yearwith its rst senior class and lost to Aledo inthe rst round.

Head Coach Whitney Johansen is in hersecond season with the Lady Spartans andsaid while the roster is still being nalized,Centennial has a great shot at returning to thepostseason and continuing the positive direc-tion of the program.

“I wasn’t coaching the rst two seasonsthe school was built and have only been with

it for one season,” she said. “I feel all thepreparation which has gone into making itthis far has served its purpose. The technicaland physical talents that each of our girls havereally reect their work ethic and determina-tion.

“The experiences they have endured overthe last few years have shaped and moldedthem into really well-rounded volleyballplayers.”

Centennial returns liberos Katie Rebrov-ich and Courtney Fernandez along with hit-ters Macey Albracht, Sydney Cox, Sarah

Manning and Haley Morris, who also playsmiddle blocker. Toni Maxfeld is another re-turning middle blocker for Centennial.

Albracht, Fernandez, Rebrovich, Cox andMaxeld are all seniors.

“Everyone played an important role lastseason,” Johansen said of the Lady Spartans,who nished 8-6 in their inaugural District8-4A campaign. “We had to pull together ev-ery single day to improve individually and asa team. The biggest change this year will belosing the senior captains.

“We have an amazing group of seniors

who are bringing leadership of their own andhoping they can show our underclassmen howto push past the rst round of the playoffs.”

Centennial nished 23-18 last year anddid so under the leadership of seniors BrennaMoretz, Lawren Phillips, Olivia Chapman,Alison Shelton and Courtney Colomo.

Johansen said the landscape of 8-4A hasn’tgotten any easier and with perennial powerand rival Burleson involved, the playoffs areno easy task.

“Our district competed very well last sea-

son and with the talented coaches and athleteswe have, I expect this year to be even morecompetitive,” she said. “Of course the rivalrywith Burleson is in the back of our minds. In-ter-city rivalries make it fun and high energyfor the schools and community.

“They are another hurdle in our race forthe playoffs and they’re another opportunityfor our athletes to compete at a high level.”

Centennial opens the season Tuesday atRanchview and the Lady Spartans’ rst Dis-trict 8-4A game is Sept. 13 at Everman.


Toni Maxfield (11) returns for her senior season for the Lady Spartans in 2013, but Cen-tennial must replace a strong senior class from 2012, including Lawren Phillips (4).

Centennial program off to solid startLady Spartans look

for third straight

playoff berth in 3rd

year of existence




Lady Jackets eye district title


After the 2012 season cameto a disappointing end for

the Cleburne Lady Jackets in astraight-set loss to Granbury inthe bidistrict round of Class 4Aplayoffs, Coach Jim Wood’s ex-pectations for the 2013 season

weren’t high.The Lady Jackets were los-

ing all-district and All-JohnsonCounty offensive player of the year in Kendall Jones andrst-team all-district and All-Johnson County setter of theyear Hillary King to graduation.Both were team leaders and twoof Cleburne’s most productiveplayers on a team that nishedonly two games behind District8-4A champion Burleson.

But as the offseason work-outs and summer and clubleagues progressed, Wood’sexpectations for his 2013 LadyJackets have continued to rise.

“At the end of last season, just trying to gure out who canplay what, I was just initiallythinking we would struggle tomake the playoffs,” Wood said.“But now, after watching thegirls in club, watching them inoffseason, watching them insummer league, we’re play-ing well. My expectations areextremely high right now com-pared to after last year.

“I think district isn’t out of our reach. If we click and cometogether like I think we can,it’s right there. We have to gothrough Burleson and Joshua,and Centennial is going to berough, but I think those are win-nable for us. If the girls can un-derstand that it’s attainable, and

we’ve talked about beating Bur-leson and going through them,we’re thinking about winningdistrict. Not just making theplayoffs, but winning district.And then not just going into theplayoffs and be one and done,but winning some games in theplayoffs.”

This season marks Wood’ssecond year as the Cleburne

head volleyball coach, and thestart to this season has alreadybeen a much smoother processas opposed to last year.

“We’re able to do more teamstuff instead of having to gothrough individual skill afterindividual skill learning my sys-tem,” he said. “Now we’re ableto do more team-oriented stuff because we can refresh a little

bit and go right into it withouthaving to learn a whole newsystem.”

Despite the losses of Jones

and King, as well as Abby Zach-ary, Wood said he believes theLady Jackets can be even betterin 2013.

“Losing such a great leaderas Hillary and an outstand-ing outside hitter as Kendall istough to replace, but I think wemight even be a little better be-cause we might be a little moreteam oriented on offense,” hesaid. “I think we’ll have a morebalanced offense instead of re-

lying so much on one or twoplayers. We’ll be able to relyon several players and any girlcan step up on any given nightinstead of expecting one or twoplayers to carry the load.

“Instead of relying on oneoutside hitter and one middle,both of our middles are going tobe strong, both of our outsidesare going to be strong, our rightsides are even going to be ableto hit, and we have some girls

that can hit back row very well.We’re going to be a much morebalanced offense.”

The Lady Jackets return sev-eral experienced players, high-lighted by the District 8-4A andAll-Johnson County blocker of the year in Brianna Reband, who’s game is multidimension-al, and should be one of the go-to players for Cleburne in hersenior season.

“Bri’s a solid player,” Woodsaid. “Every year she wins a lotof awards. She’s a senior thisyear and she’s wanting to go outon top.”

Junior Cheyenne Lytle wasa pleasant surprise last season asshe garnered All-Johnson Coun-ty newcomer of the year and all-district rst-team honors, andWood said she’ll be even better.

“Cheyenne has improved so


Cleburne lost three key players to graduation, but Coach JimWood expects the Lady Jackets to be a more balanced team in2013. Wood said Cheyenne Lytle (12), who had an impressivesophomore season, has improved her game over the summer.

Cleburne looks to

top last season’s

achievements inWood’s 2nd season

See CLEBURNE, Page 8




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much from last year,” Wood said. “She’s going to be a big factor inthe middle for us. She’s able to hit a variety of shots she couldn’thit last year. She’s hungrier than she was last year and she’s reallywanting to do better.”

Other key returning players include Holly Wood, Hannah King,

Kristen Reid and Erica Bonham.“We’re going to have a super well-balanced offense and we’re

going to keep teams guessing who we’re going to set to,” Woodsaid. “Last year, it was pretty easy to gure out who we were goingto set to, and they just keyed in on her. So we’ve got variety now andI think that’s going to help us a lot.”

Wood said there will also be younger players stepping up andpotentially making an impact at the varsity level, including KelsiChavez, Montee Sorrells and Ashley Rauer.

While the goal for Cleburne is to be crowned district champion,Wood said the district race will be very competitive, similar to lastyear.

“I think it’s still going to be very competitive, but every team

lost some key players,” he said. “Burleson graduated a lot but theystill have two outstanding girls coming back. Joshua graduated apretty heavy class and they were very talented. We graduated twooutstanding girls. Centennial graduated a couple of girls. And Crow-ley might even be in the mix. I still think it’s going to be a very tightrace and very competitive, but the level of play may not be quite aswhat it was last year because of losing players to graduation. Thedistrict race is still going to go through Burleson.”

The Lady Jackets open the season Tuesday at home against FortWorth Southwest.

cleburnecont. from pg. 7


Cleburne’s Brianna Reband was the blocker of the year in all-district and all-county awards in 2012, and she is expected to beone of the Lady Jackets leading ladies in her senior year.




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After what Godley HeadCoach Todd Weese called a

“rebuilding” year in 2012, wherethe Lady Cats went 17-18 andmissed the playoffs for the rsttime in ve years, Godley isready to make another playoff push and continue the winningtradition of the volleyball pro-

gram.A 7-5 campaign in the

school’s rst year in the re-vamped District 10-2A wasenough to earn the Lady Cats afourth-place tie with rival Grand-view, but the Lady Zebras took

the nal playoff spot by virtueof a better record against similaropponents.

Godley had one senior lastyear and returned only a few

players from the 2011 squad,which made it to the regional -nals. Weese said this year is dif-ferent.

“There were only three re-

turners last year,” he said. “Wewere really inexperienced and ittook us about halfway throughthe year to gure out who wasgoing to be on the varsity. Weweren’t used to each other and ittook a while. It took me a whileto put it all together, too.”

Godley has seven returnersback this year including seniorsCourtney Traylor and KaseyRichardson. Other returners in-clude sophomore defensive spe-cialist Beth Danna, sophomoreoutside hitter Cheyenne Barnesand sophomore middle blockerSidnee Malloy.

Junior outside hitter Leanna

James and junior blocker JaciSmith round out the Lady Cats’rotation.

Weese said Godley will bemore multi-dimensional on of-

Lady Cats aim for rebound season

Steven Hiser/Special to the CTR

Godley’s Leanna James is one of several experienced returningstarters for the Lady Cats in 2013.

After missing playoffsfor first t ime in 5 years,Godley looks for

improvement

See GODLEY, Page 12




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Grandview has made thepostseason ve consecu-

tive seasons, but challengesawait the Lady Zebras in 2013.

Grandview faces the chal-lenges of replacing several keyplayers as well as adjusting to anew coach.

The Lady Zebras were asenior-laden team in 2012,led by Kalani Basham, Har-ley Grifth, Paige Pollock,Brittney Tschoepe and AlexisWheeler, all of whom wereall-county and all-district play-

ers. Grandview also has a newcoach for the second consecu-tive season as Christy Tate re-places Melissa Cole.

Despite the challenges

ahead, Tate said she expects theseason to be successful.“I’m really excited about the

season,” Tate said. “I think thatwe’ve had a really good campand a really good rst day of practice. Everyone is workingreally hard.

“The things they did lastyear, I do a little different, andI think the girls are really learn-ing everything, and it’s goingreally well and I expect a good

season with them.”Tate spent the previous sixyears at Saginaw Boswell HighSchool, where she led the Pio-neers to postseason play eachyear. She will now look to leadGrandview to its sixth consecu-

tive postseason appearance.“I’m just a true believer in

what you put into it is what youget out of it,” she said. “If ev-eryone is willing to put in the

hard work, in the end, every-thing will work out.”For a program to lose play-

ers of the caliber of Bashamand Tschoepe, along with therest of last year’s seniors, is achallenge for any program, butthe cupboard isn’t bare.

Jade Rochelle was an all-district performer last season,and she joins the likes of AbbyReynolds and Jordan Nash asplayers with high expectations.

But the team will succeed as ateam, rather than based on theplay of a few individuals, Tatesaid.

“I think there are quite a fewplayers that are going to be ableto make an impact for our team

this year,” Tate said. “It will bea good combined team effortfrom everyone.”

With the loss of an impor-tant senior class, expectations

from the outside may be low,but Tate said she hopes herplayers take that as a challenge.

“I think that a lot of time,it’s all the attitude of your play-ers,” she said. “Sometimes youhave kids that want to stepup and exceed expectations.That’s always fun to work withkids that want to excel becausethat challenge is there.

“I’m still learning about thegirls. They’re a hard-working

group, and they’re absorbingeverything in. They’re beingextremely coachable, and that’san important key — buildingthose relationships and that

Under new coach,Grandview aimsfor sixth straight

playoff appearance

A.J. Crisp/CTR

Grandview’s Jade Rochelle was an all-district selection last sea-son as a freshman.

See ZEBRAS, Page 11





The Joshua Lady Owls hadtheir best season in school

history in 2012. Joshua won 32games, nished second in a stoutDistrict 8-4A and made the post-season for the rst time in sev-eral seasons. Despite graduatingseveral key players from a yearago, expectations are still high.

If Joshua is to repeat its suc-cess from last season, it will do sounder a new head coach. JenniferKey, who was Craig Bethell’stop assistant last season, is nowthe head coach. Bethell is still onthe volleyball coaching staff inan assistant role.

Despite the tweak to thecoaching staff, Key said theywill still approach everything ina similar fashion.

“I think that Coach Bethell

and I have been a pretty goodteam,” Key said. “He’s my var-sity assistant. [From a teamstandpoint], each year you adapt.You evaluate who you’re bring-ing back and who you’re bring-ing in new to the team to decidewhat you’re changing [scheme-wise].”

The Lady Owls lost three all-district and all-county playersfrom a season ago in MaddisonMoad, Katherine Martin and

Hannah Nelson. Key said it’stoo early to tell what players will

step up and ll those leadershiproles.

“We still have a lot of work todo,” Key said. “It’s too early inthe season. I see it more as a teamthing. They will pull together tobe leaders and dominate as ateam.”

Joshua will have only two se-niors on the team in 2013 — Bai-ley Gloecker and Cassidy Riza.

Juniors Ashley Brakel, CaliePayne, Kailey Hicks and Bailey

Kennedy return from a year agoas well. Payne was an all-districtand all-county performer as well.

“[The roster makeup] is goingto be a mix of younger playersand experienced players,” Keysaid. “We’re only going to havetwo seniors, so we won’t be los-ing a lot after this year.”

Key said the biggest keys inthe season will be chemistry and

work ethic.“Our expectations are to pull

together as a family, work hardand progress,” she said. “Of course, every coach wants towin. Our girls have to pull to-gether and work hard and givemore than 100 percent everytime they hit the court. We’re go-ing to be an all-effort team.

“Team bonding and pullingtogether as a team is key. Chem-istry is there. It’s still a work inprogress but they’ve got to buyinto that and believe it. Whenwe talk about family, we’re not just talking varsity, our wholeprogram is a family and supportsystem.”

Key said the Lady Owls per-formed well in summer league

and club action during the off-season and throughout the sum-mer. Joshua hosted a summerleague throughout July, and the junior and senior Lady Owl teamfaired well.

“Some of them come out of club and got to play together insummer league,” she said. “Oursummer league teams weren’tcoached so they had to coachthemselves, so you got to seewho was going to step up and be

leaders. We ended up winningrst place in it.”

Key didn’t talk aboutschemes or sets or certain indi-viduals playing well. She saidif the Lady Owls give it all theyhave, 2013 will be another suc-cessful season.

“Them pulling together as ateam and being a family and giv-ing 100 percent as they step outon the court is the biggest key,”she said.

Joshua opens the seasonTuesday at home against Azle.

Lady Owls look for repeat performance


Joshua’s Calie Payne (10) was an all-district and all-county pe-former in 2012, and will play a more prominent role this season.

After best seasonin school history,Joshua hopes for

continued success

mutual respect to each other to get betteraltogether.”

While Tate is still learning the strengthsand weaknesses of her players as the earlyseason progresses, she said the biggest key

to a successful 2013 season will be workethic.

“There’s some areas that we have somereally good strengths in and some areaswhere we have a little weakness in,” shesaid. “Depending on how we improve onthose weaknesses, that will determinewhere we’ll be [at season’s end]. I stillthink it’s too early to gauge. But as long as

we’re a hard-working team that outworkseveryone else, we’ll be ne.”

Grandview opens the season Tuesday inChina Spring for a dual with Hubbard andChina Spring. On Thursday through Sat-urday, the Lady Zebras host a tournamentwith 16 teams scheduled to participate.

Grandview starts its District 10-2A slateTuesday at Keene.

Zebrascont. from pg. 10





The Keene Lady Chargers’ are the peren-nial “little engine that could” on the John-

son County volleyball landscape, in terms of size.

After a successful rst half of the 2012season, Keene stumbled in District 10-2Aplay against the likes of local rivals Godleyand Grandview. The Lady Chargers failed towin a 15-2A contest.

Head Coach Michelle Connelly said youthplayed a big role in the tribulations last year,as well as Keene’s lack of size. This year, shesaid, brings more reasons for optimism with“almost the entire varsity” returning to theoor.

“We did really well in the preseason lastyear,” she said. “I kind of got my hopes upand then we kind of fell apart in district. Wewere close in a lot of games and played reallywell, but we couldn’t quite get over the hump.

“And we’re still very short. That parthasn’t changed.”

Keene had just one senior last year. This

year, the Lady Chargers bring back ve, in-cluding four starters.

Emily Aaron and Christina Enos arereturning back row seniors for Keene andChelsea Wilson is a returning senior middleblocker. Jenna Bulles, who Connelly said is“by far our best player,” is a returning senioroutside hitter.

“We’re still small, but we do have somenew players who add some hitting power,”Connelly said. “That’ll help with the youngerkids who have moved up. They’re doing re-ally well.”

Connelly said digging and defense isKeene’s biggest strength.

“We have a really good team this year andwhat’s neat is that we can move everyonearound to different positions,” she said. “Wecan interchange everyone.”

The lack of a natural setter may be a detri-ment to the Lady Chargers, Connelly said.

“That will hurt us a lot,” she said. “We’vegot a lot of kids who can play that spot be-cause they’re told too and hustle, but they’renot true setters with those soft hands. Dig-ging will be our biggest strength, and serving.We’re going to try to serve well and dig well.”

Enos and Aaron are the anchors on the de-fensive end.

“They dig a lot and they know they haveto get on the oor,” Connelly said. “We seemto be serving harder this year. We always gota lot of serves in and I think we’ve gured outhow to serve a little harder and we’re direct-

ing it a lot better.”The landscape of 10-2A is travel-friendly,

save for the exception of Tolar. Familiar facesGrandview and Godley represent the biggestobstacles in the way of Keene and a playoff berth.

“They’re always tough and so is May-pearl,” Connelly said. “I think the rest of

us will be ghting it out for that third- andfourth-place spot.”

As for the 2013 schedule, Connelly saidit’s set up mostly the same. She added thatshe thinks her team can maintain positive mo-mentum heading into district play.

“We got some really good games out of our preseason last year,” she said. “I’m notsure what happened after that. Hopefully thecondence pays off this year.”

The Lady Chargers open their seasonTuesday at Boyd. Keene’s rst District 10-2Agame is Sept. 10 at Rio Vista.

Experience brings hope For Keene

A.J. Crisp/CTR

Keene Coach Michelle Connelly said the Lady Chargers will be led by Jenna Bulles in2013. Keene returns the majority of last year’s varsity squad.

fense in 2013 instead of relyingso heavily on Smith’s power.

“She’s our best all-aroundplayer,” Weese said of Smith.“Last year, even though she wasa sophomore, she stepped up.

She was one of our leaders onthe court.

“She’s probably still goingto be our go-to hitter. Cheyenneand Leanna will also be good,too. Sydney is another threat onthe right side.”

In the tough connes of 10-2A, a playoff berth is a struggleall on its own. Weese said a lotof the powerhouses in the district

are returning a lot of starters justlike his own team.

“We hope to get back in theplayoffs and nish as high as pos-sible to have a good seed goingin,” he said. “I think Maypearl isgoing to be strong. They’ve gota bunch of kids back like Grand-view. I think Whitney graduateda big group. I feel like our kidswill come together this year.”

Weese added the last half of the 2012 season will pay divi-dends for the 2013 campaign.

“A lot of the time last year, we just weren’t used to each other,”Weese said. “I think we’re goingto be a lot better this year.”

Godley opens the seasonTuesday at Dallas Life. TheLady Cats begin District 10-2Aplay Sept. 10 against Whitney.

Godleycont. from pg. 9

Lady Chargers look to

win more in 2013 with

seasoned group





According to new coach Rachell Pope,Rio Vista has the potential to have a

turnaround season after several years of los-ing.

Pope, who comes to Rio Vista from Cas-tleberry where she was the middle schoolathletic coordinator and varsity assistantwith ve years of coaching experience, saidthe rst few days of practice went well andshe is encouraged by the potential the LadyEagles have.

“Actually, it’s been pretty smooth,” Popesaid. “The girls are very much willing towork. I think they’re excited about the up-coming season. I’m excited about them be-cause I think they have a lot of potential.They’re just going to have to really work andlearn how to work.”

The Lady Eagles gure to be an ex-perienced team with seven seniors likelyto make the varsity roster, led by HannahKamphaus.

“I look for Hannah to be a big leader for

this group,” Pope said. “Haley Hennis willbe a big part. She’s recovering from an ACLinjury last year. ... Alex Nichols is solid.She’s a good all-around kid and she workshard. She’s the silent leader of the group.

“We have a lot of seniors and there’s acouple of juniors, one that played varsitylast year as a sophomore. We’ve got a lotof younger kids coming up. I don’t knowif they’re going to make varsity or not. Butwe’re going to be a hard-working team.”

Since Pope is new to Rio Vista, she saidshe hopes to instill a sense of self condence

and pride into a program that has struggledin recent years.

“The rst month of the season, I hopeto get them into a routine of competing andreally ghting for some wins,” she said. “Iknow they haven’t had very much successfrom last year, but I want them to just com-pete. I think they can and I think they will.We’ll come out with some wins.”

As the Lady Eagles battle through tour-nament and nondistrict play, Pope said shehopes the team progresses throughout theseason, and once district play rolls around,

they’re ready to compete for a playoff spot.“I’m hoping to build as we go through

preseason and then ght for a playoff spot,”Pope said. “We want to be ghting for aplayoff spot this season, that is denitely agoal.”

One of the biggest challenges facing Popeand the Lady Eagles, she said, is condence.

“Denitely believing in ourselves andbelieving that they can do it is a big key tothe season,” Pope said. “They’ve got to buildthat. They’ve got to create unity and worktogether as a team. They will not be success-

ful if they don’t work as a team. I think thesegirls have a ton of potential, they’re just go-ing to have to adapt to each other. We’re stillworking on who’s going to play where. It’shard to tell those things with only a few prac-tices.

“But self condence may be one of ourbiggest battles. Gaining condence and be-lieving in themselves.”

Pope graduated college from Texas A&Mand high school at Wortham.

Rio Vista opens the season Tuesday athome against Cleburne Christian Academy.

Lady Eagles ready to break through

Cierra Johnson/Special to the CTR

Under a new head coach, Hannah Kamphaus and the Lady Eagles aim to end their los-ing ways in 2013.

New coach believesRio Vista has potentialto end losing ways



14 community life


Burleson schedule

DATE OPPONENT TIME

Aug. 13 at Stephenville 6:30 p.m.

Aug. 16-17 Bev Ball Classic TBD

Aug. 20 Trinity 5:30 p.m.

Aug. 23-24 Granbury Tournament TBD

Aug. 27 Granbury TBD

Aug. 29 & 31 Argyle Inv. TBDSept. 3 at Aledo 6:30 p.m.

Sept. 6 Weatherford 6:30 p.m.

Sept. 10 Keller Central 6:30 p.m.

Sept. 13 at Joshua* 5:30 p.m.

Sept. 17 Cleburne* 6:30 p.m.

Sept. 20 Burleson Centennial* 5:30 p.m.

Sept. 24 Crowley* 6:30 p.m.

Sept. 27 at Everman* 5:30 p.m.

Oct. 1 at Waco Univ.* 6:30 p.m.

Oct. 4 Waco High* 5:30 p.m.

Oct. 8 Joshua* 6:30 p.m.

Oct. 11 at Cleburne* 5:30 p.m.

Oct. 15 at Burleson Centennial* 6:30 p.m.

Oct. 18 at Crowley* 5:30 p.m.

Oct. 22 Everman* 6:30 p.m.

Oct. 25 Waco Univ.* 5:30 p.m.

Oct. 29 at Waco High* 6:30 p.m.

* — Denotes District 8-4A contest

Cleburne schedule

DATE OPPONENT TIMEAug. 13 Southwest 6:30 p.m.

Aug. 15-17 MISD Tournament TBD

Aug. 20 at Manseld Lake Ridge 6:30 p.m.

Aug. 22-24 Glen Rose Tournament TBD

Aug. 27 at Weatherford 6:30 p.m.

Aug. 29-31 Leander Tournament TBD

Sept. 3 Brewer 6:30 p.m.

Sept. 6 at Aledo 5:30 p.m.



Sept. 17 at Burleson* 6:30 p.m.

Sept. 20 Waco Univ.* 5:30 p.m.


Sept. 27 at Waco High* 5:30 p.m.




Oct. 11 Burleson* 5:30 p.m.



Oct. 22 Waco* 6:30 p.m.

Oct. 25 Crowley* 5:30 p.m.

* — District 8-4A match

Joshua schedule

DATE OPPONENT TIMEAug. 13 at Azle, Dual 10 a.m.

Aug. 15-17 EMS Tournament TBD

Aug. 20 Glen Rose/Mineral Wells Dual 4 p.m.


Aug. 27 at South Hills 6:30 p.m.

Aug. 29 & 31 Argyle Tourney TBA

Aug. 30 at Fossil Ridge 6:30 p.m.

Sept. 3 Weatherford 6:30 p.m.

Sept. 6 Trimble Tech 5:30 p.m.

Sept. 13 Burleson* 5:30 p.m.


Sept. 20 at Crowley* 5:30 p.m.Sept. 24 at Everman* 6:30 p.m.

Sept. 27 Waco University* 5:30 p.m.

Oct. 1 Waco High* 6:30 p.m.


Oct. 8 at Burleson* 6:30 p.m.




Oct. 22 at Waco University* 6:30 p.m.


Oct. 29 Cleburne* 6:30 p.m.


Centennial schedule

DATE OPPONENT TIMEAug. 13 Ranchview 6:30 p.m.

Aug. 16-17 Saginaw Tournament TBD

Aug. 20 Denton Guyer TBD

Aug. 23-24 Brewer Tournament TBD

Aug. 27 Brewer 6:30 p.m.

Aug. 30-31 Arlington Tournament TBDSept. 3 at Maypearl 6:30 p.m.

Sept. 6 at Keller 5:30 p.m.

Sept. 10 Paschal 6:30 p.m.


Sept. 17 Waco Univ.* 6:30 p.m.

Sept. 20 Waco High* 5:30 p.m.


Sept. 27 at Burleson* 5:30 p.m.







Oct. 22 Burleson* 6:30 p.m.

Oct. 25 Cleburne* 5:30 p.m.





community life 15


Alvarado schedule

DATE OPPONENT TIME

Aug. 13 at Northside 11 a.m.

Aug. 15-17 Grandview Tournament TBD

Aug. 20 Rio Vista 2 p.m.

Aug. 23 & 24 Brewer Tournament TBD

Aug. 27 Tolar 6 p.m.

Aug. 29 & 31 Southwest Tournament TBD

Aug. 30 at Southwest 5 p.m.

Sept. 3 at Lake Worth 6 p.m.

Sept. 6 at West 4:30 p.m.

Sept. 10 Blum 5:30 p.m.

Sept. 17 Castleberry 6 p.m.

Sept. 20 at China Springs 4:30 p.m.

Sept. 27 Maypearl 4:30 p.m.

Oct. 1 Stephenville* 6 p.m.

Oct. 4 at Venus* 3:25 p.m.

Oct. 8 at Glen Rose* 6 p.m.

Oct. 11 Hillsboro* 4:30 p.m.

Oct. 15 at Grandview 5:30 p.m.Oct. 18 at Stephenville* 4:30 p.m.

Oct. 22 Venus* 6 p.m.

Oct. 25 Glen Rose 4:30 p.m.

Oct. 29 at Hillsboro* 6 p.m.

* — Denotes 7-3A contest

Godley schedule

DATE OPPONENT TIMEAug. 13 at Dallas Life 6:30 p.m.

Aug. 15-17 Grandview Tournament TBD

Aug. 20 Jacksboro 5:30 p.m.


Aug. 27 at Castleberry 6 p.m.

Aug. 30 at Mineral Wells 5 p.m.

Sept. 3 Peaster 5 p.m.Sept. 5 & 7 Peaster Tournament TBD

Sept. 6 Millsap 4:30 p.m.

Sept. 10 Whitney* 5:30 p.m.

Sept. 13 Tolar* 4:30 p.m.

Sept. 17 at Keene* 5:30 p.m.

Sept. 20 Rio Vista* 4:30 p.m.

Sept. 24 at Grandview* 5:30 p.m.

Sept. 27 Maypearl* 4:30 p.m.

Oct. 1 Dublin 6 p.m.

Oct. 4 at Whitney* 4:30 p.m.

Oct. 8 at Tolar* 6:30 p.m.

Oct. 11 Keene* 4:30 p.m.Oct. 15 at Rio Vista* 5:30 p.m.

Oct. 18 Grandview* 4:30 p.m.

Oct. 22 at Maypearl* 5:30 p.m.

Oct. 25 at Dublin 4 p.m.


Rio Vista schedule

DATE OPPONENT TIME

Aug. 13 CCA 2 p.m.

Aug. 15-17 Clifton Tourn. TBD

Aug. 20 at Alvarado 2 p.m.

Aug. 23 at Venus 7 p.m.

Aug. 27 Blum 6 p.m.

Sept. 3 Clifton 6 p.m.

Sept. 5/7 Hillsboro Tourn. TBD

Sept. 6 Whitney* 5:30 p.m.

Sept. 10 Keene* 6:30 p.m.

Sept. 13 at Maypearl* 5:30 p.m.

Sept. 17 at Hico 5 p.m.

Sept. 20 at Godley* 5:30 p.m.

Sept. 24 at Tolar* 6:30 p.m.

Sept. 27 at Grandview* 5:30 p.m.

Oct. 1 at Whitney* 6:30 p.m.

Oct. 4 at Keene* 5:30 p.m.

Oct. 8 Maypearl* 6:30 p.m.

Oct. 11 CCA “Dig Pink” 5:30 p.m.

Oct. 15 Godley* 6:30 p.m.

Oct. 18 Tolar* 5:30 p.m.

Oct. 22 Grandview* 6:30 p.m.


Keene schedule

DATE OPPONENT TIM

Aug. 13 at Boyd 2 p.m

Aug. 15-17 Venus Tourn. TB

Aug. 20 Millsap 6 p.m

Aug. 22-24 Keene Tourn. TB

Aug. 27 NCA 5:30 p.m

Aug. 30 at Venus 4:30 p.m

Sept. 3 NCA at Crowley 5:30 p.m

Sept. 10 at Rio Vista* 4:30 p.m

Sept. 13 Grandview* 4:30 p.m

Sept. 17 Godley* 4:30 p.m

Sept. 20 at Tolar* 4:30 p.m

Sept. 24 Whitney* 4:30 p.m

Sept. 27 at Dublin 4:30 p.m

Oct. 1 Maypearl* 4:30 p.m

Oct. 4 Rio Vista* 4:30 p.m

Oct. 8 at Grandview* 4:30 p.m

Oct. 11 at Godley* 4:30 p.m

Oct. 15 Tolar* 4:30 p.m

Oct. 18 at Whitney* 4:30 p.m

Oct. 22 CCA 4:30 p.m

Oct. 25 at * 4:30 p.m


Grandview schedule

DATE OPPONENT TIME

Aug. 13 at China Spring, dual 4 p.m.

Aug. 15-17 Grandview Tourn. TBD

Aug. 20 at Sunnyvale 5 p.m.

Aug. 22-24 Groesbeck Tourn. TBD

Aug. 27 Glen Rose 6 p.m.

Aug. 29-31 Dublin Tourn. TBD

Aug. 30 at University 6 p.m.

ept. 3 at Lorena 6:30 p.m.

ept. 6 Blum 6:30 p.m.

ept. 10 Maypearl* 6:30 p.m.

ept. 13 at Keene* 4:30 p.m.

ept. 17 at Whitney* 6:30 p.m.

ept. 20 Groesbeck 4:30 p.m.

ept. 24 Godley* 6:30 p.m.

ept. 27 Rio Vista* 4:30 p.m.

Oct. 1 at Tolar* 6:30 p.m.

Oct. 4 at Maypearl* 4:30 p.m.

Oct. 8 Keene* 6:30 p.m.

Oct. 11 Whitney* 4:30 p.m.

Oct. 15 Alvarado 6:30 p.m.

Oct. 18 at Godley* 4:30 p.m.

Oct. 22 at Rio Vista* 6:30 p.m.

Oct. 25 Tolar* 4:30 p.m.

— District 10-2A match




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A place as important at your home.

johnson county volleyball 2013

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